One Day
by Alice Brennan
Summary: Severus is granted one last day with his wife.


**Written for the Houses Competition: Slytherin Year 4 Standard Prompt: Black Velvet Cloak, Word Count: 1534**

**Also Written for The Quidditch league Competition: Pride of Portree Chaser 3. Prompt: ****Write about a canonly stubborn character faced with insurmountable odds. Additional Prompts: Quote # 6, Object: telescope Situation: Catch 22**

Bellatrix smiled down at the muggleborn lying in front of her, still twitching from being under the cruciatus curse for so long.

"I know it wet," Bellatrix sang gleefully,"And the sun is not sunny, but we can have lots of good fun that is funny!"

Thunder rumbled beyond the walls of the Malfoy estate,but the muggleborn hardly noticed as Bellatrix used to the tip of her wand to push the hair back from her face. Bellatrix wanted to be able to enjoy every grimace of pain that came from her. It amused her to no end, and after she was finally bored with the girl, she would leave her body somewhere Severus was sure to find her. If she couldn't have Snape, his wife would do just as nicely. One way or another, he would be an example to all who dared to defy the Dark Lord. No one would ever turn their back on him again. No one.

"Crucio!" Bella snarled, jabbing her wand into Alaya's ribs. Bellatrix only laughed as she screamed.

* * *

The first time Severus met Alaya, she'd had long black hair, dark red lips, and stormy grey eyes that challenged him at every turn. The last time he saw her, there was nothing left of her but an empty shell. Severus knew in his heart that he would never survive this hands gripped the balcony railing until his knuckles turned white, and he still felt...nothing. There was no pain, no hope, only this emptiness that made him feel as though he would never be whole again.

"Please," He whispered, "I'll do anything, give anything... just bring my wife back to me."

"Anything?" A voice answered, much to Severus' surprise. He whirled around to see who had dared to intrude upon him so soon after the funeral of his wife.

"Who are you?" Severus demands, when he realized he didn't recognize the man standing before him. It wasn't a student or another professor. The stranger wasn't wearing any sort of identifiable robes at all. He was tall with coffee colored skin, cropped black hair, and golden eyes that seemed to swirl the more Severus tried to focus on them. His robes were covered by a black velvet cloak that some sort of power seemed to be emanating from. Severus couldn't see it, but he could feel it.

"Someone who could grant you your wish," The man answered, taking a step closer to Severus.

"No one can bring back the dead." Severus snaped, frustrated by the empty promise.

"I can," The man countered calmly, "For one day, I can undo what has been done. At the end of this one day, nature will reclaim its balance. You cannot keep her, but you can say goodbye."

"How?" Severus demanded, narrowing his eyes at the man suspiciously.

The man moved to stand beside the bed Severus shared with his wife and lifted his hand over it. He muttered words in a language Severus didn't recognize and his hand bagan to glow. So did whatever was underneath that black velvet cloak. Suddenly, just like that, Alaya materialized on his bed. She was fast asleep, but Severus could see her chest rise and fall with each breath she took. His heart ached at the sight of her, but Severus was still suspicious.

"How is this possible?" He asked, looking back at the stranger. "Who are you?"

"A friend," the stranger answered simply, "I am a friend. Remember, Severus, only one day."

Before Severus could utter another word, he turned on his heel and vanished.

Severus rushed to the bed and took Alaya in his arms.

"Severus?" She woke, startled by his desperation to hold her. "What's wrong?"

"You don't remember?" Severus asked, frowning. Her looked down at her, so full of life again. There was no sign of pain or terror or anything that Bellatrix had done to her. It was just her, whole again.

"Remember what?" Alaya asked in confusion, pushing herself back into a sitting position.

Severus hesitated. He didn't want to tell her what had happened to her. What he had let happen to her. He should have been there to protect her. It should have been him at Bellatrix's mercy, not her. Now that he had her back, he didn't care what the stranger had said. No one was going to take her away from him again. He would just have to take her somewhere no one would find them.

"France," Severus answered, "We're going to France for your birthday."

"My birthday isn't for months," She pointed out.

"Yes," Severus replied, thinking quickly, "but there was that meteor shower that you wanted to see. What better place to watch than France? We will celebrate your actual birthday closer to time, but I want to give this to you."

She smiled at him in a way that stole his breath, and he almost wanted to slip into bed with her. They didn't have time, though. "Pack your things. If we're going to catch the meteor shower, we have to leave now."

Alaya slipped out of bed and quickly packed her things, including a small telescope she liked to use to stargaze. Before long they were flying through the night sky towards France.

Time passed quickly for Severus. Every second that past felt like a threat, and Severus struggled to resist the temptation to hold her to him and never let her go. He was never going to be able to say goodbye. The day was nearing its end long before Severus was ready for it to.

"This had been fun, but I can't wait to get back home." Alaya smiled at him before peering through her telescope at the meteor shower. It made everything seem so much closer and so beautiful.

Severus froze, tightening his grip on her hand. "Home," he repeated, "We can't go home."

"Of course we can. Where else would we go?" She laughed.

"We can go anywhere you want, anywhere except there." Severus insisted.

She looked back at him, "I wish this could last forever, too, but we have jobs to get back to."

"I don't care about my job. I care about you." He argued.

"I love you," She smiled at him. This time, Severus couldn't resist reaching out. He brushed a strand of hair from her face and pulled her lips to his in a soft kiss.

"You're distracting me," She accused lightly, "It's time to go home. What would the students do without you?"

"What would they do without you," Severus countered, even as he wondered what he would do without her. He recognized that look in her eyes, though. It was the stubborn one that said she had made up her mind already and she wasn't about to let anyone change it.

Just as he reached for their brooms, a high pitched female voice stops him in his tracks.

"Aww, going home already?" Bellatrix whined, stepping out of the shadows.

Severus quickly dropped the brooms and pulled out his wand. He grabbed Alaya's arm and pulled her behind him. "Stay away from her!" Severus snarled.

Alaya pulled out of his grasp and Severus watched as Bellatrix's eyes lit up. The dark figure who had somehow brought her back to life appeared behind Bellatrix tapping at his wrist. His time was up.

"No!" Severus snarled as Alaya drew her wand on Bellatrix.

"Sectumsempra!" Bellatrix yelled, making a slashing movement with her wand in Alaya's direction.

Severus jumped in front of her, knocking her out of the way.

"Severus!" Alaya gasped as she crouched over him.

"Run!" Severus gasped, pushing her away, Alaya, though, had that steely look in her eyes again, and she turned it on Bellatrix.

"Uh oh," Bellatrix said, then turned around and took off running. "You can't catch me!"

Alaya didn't give chase. Instead she made the same slashing movements with her wand that Bellatrix had made towards her. "Sectumsempra!" She snarled.

Bellatrix fell to the ground, blood pooling around her. "Guess I caught you." She muttered before rushing back to Severus' side. He was already unconscious, but she traced the wound with the tip of her wand, muttering words that would heal him.

"Let me," The stranger in the black velvet cap appeared beside her, reaching out his hand.

Alaya looked up at him in surprise as his hand began to glow and the wound closed itself.

Severus coughed, his eyes fluttering open, shocked to see Alaya still alive. "Don't take her!" He pleaded as he caught sight of the stranger again, "Please don't take her!"

The stranger smiled down at him, "Relax, Severus, everything is going to be alright."

"I don't understand," Severus objected. "You said only one day."

"One day for what?" Alaya asked in confusion.

"I said after one day, nature would find its balance. A life for a life. You sacrificed yourself for her, and she killed Bellatrix. Everything is even now."

"Who are you?" Severus demanded once again.

"Your guardian angel," the stranger smiled, slipping off the black velvet cloak to reveal a beautiful set of white feathered wings.


End file.
